As a strange aside: a very small part of me wouldn't mind if online piracy became a lot more difficult, if only so that people would stop giving me shit when they find out that I still buy CDs.

Yeah, I'm kinda in the same boat. Well, not really the same boat but definitely the same ocean. A small part of me is glad this happened just so I don't have to see ten more threads about how all everyone ever does anymore is rub themselves raw while downloading entire band discographies and they will always be less fans than the much, much superior humans who, gasp, actually buy CD's. Could you imagine such a concept?

Yeah you definitely get it.

I'm not at all saying that what's going on is a good thing, i'm just saying there might be a teensy silver lining after all...

People will crow on about the death of online piracy sites, but really if you're getting shit for free like that, you have no room to complain. I do it too. But I'm certainly not going to get self righteous when my ability to download countless albums for free is taken away. Sucks but hey, can't spoil yourself you know.

OK, I try to defend blogs because yes, while I download shit all the time, I tend to buy anything that makes me want to listen to it more than once. I'll defend them till the chickens come home for the sole reason that I've discovered an awful lot of shit that I would've never given the time of day otherwise through them.

...but seeing threads about how many gigs of music you have makes it really fucking hard.

"Megaupload isn't down because of SOPA. They were taken down because they were making people pay to upload pirated videos. This is called STEALING and is illegal whether SOPA passes or not. Mediafire won't be next because all their content is free anyways"

Is this true?

It's certainly true that it's not down because of SOPA, since SOPA has not been passed yet (and if we're lucky it will never be). The other part of what he says seems backwards though. According to the indictment details that were posted earlier, Megaupload were actually paying people who uploaded certain pirated DVDs. If true, dubious practices to say the least...

But that can't be correct, because there is no logical reason why they would pay them TO upload pirated videos. What would be more likely is that they paid money to people who uploaded popular stuff (without checking what they actually upload, which could take too long) in order to increase advertising revenue.

It's going to suck when all those legendary death metal demos that only got released in quantities of 50 on cassette in 1987 by bands that split up and fell off the face of the Earth 5 seconds later become virtually impossible to get.

It's going to suck when all those legendary death metal demos that only got released in quantities of 50 on cassette in 1987 by bands that split up and fell off the face of the Earth 5 seconds later become virtually impossible to get.

I'd rather say things would simply return to the way they were meant to be.

It's going to suck when all those legendary death metal demos that only got released in quantities of 50 on cassette in 1987 by bands that split up and fell off the face of the Earth 5 seconds later become virtually impossible to get.

I'd rather say things would simply return to the way they were meant to be.

This. Those cassettes were never intended to be heard by anyone but overzealous collectors with big wallets. Metal is not a genre for the poor and the proletariat.

Cinerary wrote:

AppleQueso wrote:

As a strange aside: a very small part of me wouldn't mind if online piracy became a lot more difficult, if only so that people would stop giving me shit when they find out that I still buy CDs.

Yeah, I'm kinda in the same boat. Well, not really the same boat but definitely the same ocean. A small part of me is glad this happened just so I don't have to see ten more threads about how all everyone ever does anymore is rub themselves raw while downloading entire band discographies and they will always be less fans than the much, much superior humans who, gasp, actually buy CD's. Could you imagine such a concept?

I'll assume you're referring to some other board. The one time I saw people try to talk about a digital collection here, they were laughed off the site.

Those threads pop up fairly regularly and they almost always follow the same template, one person mentions downloading or how many gigs of music they have, another person chimes in about how that's stupid and it's not collecting unless they spend money and buy the cd (which I agree with) and then it turns into a 4 page contest about who's got the bigger e-dick.

My post was mainly made as a joke but there is some truth in there. I, personally, don't get why anyone gives a shit. Who cares if some 14 year old who lives with his parents goes to school and can't afford cds downloads the newest Aborted? On the same token, why should that kid care that you pre-ordered the CD/T-shirt combo? As long as you're doing what's right for you, who cares?

I just spent way too much money that I didn't have, that was saved up for my Vegas trip next week for the new Devin Townsend Project "Contain Us" boxset of which I already owned 2 of the CDs. Do I care that some people could just find 12 different blogs or just go to Rockbox and pick it up for free? No, because I supported him and I just don't care enough about how other people get their music. It seems to stressful.

So, yeah, I rambled. That was just a long way of saying I'm going to Vegas next week. Yay!

Whats this mediafire getting purged stuff about? I have downloaded a shit load of stuff off there TODAY in the past 2 hours, melt banana discography, meshuggah discography, the new Vore album and countless others. Downloading is never going to die the file sharing sites are like the Hydra you chop one head off and 3 more will pop up in its place.

Wanting opinion(s) not just from you, but anybody else who is well-informed on this matter....

Are there any concerns an aspiring writer who wants to get published should have about his or her material getting exposure through "pirating"? I mean, I understand any Average Joes with brains can steal any information typed onto the internet for illegitimate purposes like plagiarsm, but if they read something that they find great enjoyment in and know it to be something someone else put great effort and heart into, chances are they'll appreciate/respect the work's uniqueness and may be compelled to buy a copy if available, right? If you could point me in the direction of research and (more) testimony from established writers that shows this to be mostly true, I would greatly appreciate it.

I guess that's what you were getting at with "A good idea doesn't need protection". And I guess it is similar to people "previewing" music online first before deciding to buy the albums. (Like you, it is not a main priority of mine to make money from writing... I am just concerned about the writer's intellectual property being recognized and respected)

Also, if this controversial legislation gets passed, what else would/could it mean for writers who want to get published, besides the strong possibility of decreased easy accessibility to their material? What else could it mean for the future of publishing and making sure writing material is granted official copyright?

_________________

Falconsbane wrote:

(...it's a bit like a 25 year old standing outside his closet yelling "Fuck you Bogeyman!)"

after what chris dodd said in regards to SOPA (amounts to bribing politicians imo), i have decided to not attend movie theaters, not to buy BD, and not support hollywierd as much as i have in the past. to be honest, i will still rent the occasional BD from the local kiosk, but have cancelled my netflix account and cable tv subscription yesterday. the comment was just the straw that broke the camels back. the arrogance....

in case some missed it:

“Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake....”- Chris Dodd

Also, if this controversial legislation gets passed, what else would/could it mean for writers who want to get published, besides the strong possibility of decreased easy accessibility to their material? What else could it mean for the future of publishing and making sure writing material is granted official copyright?

I am not a lawyer, and what little I know about the topic (mostly because of personal interest and discussing the topic with friends in local bands) is based on European laws, but with the States having signed the Berne Convention, I'd assume things are similar enough over there. Bearing that in mind, take the following with as many grains of salt as you see fit:

I assume that the author still can do what he/she wants with his/her works, unless there's a contract with a third party that includes a transfer of rights from the author to the third party (usually a publishing company, record label or whatever). So even if SOPA or PIPA pass, you could still voluntarily allow your works to be distributed over the internet (even legally, perhaps one of the Creative Commons licenses would be good for that, if only to explicitly avoid problems for you and for those who would distribute your works), and would not see a decrease in exposure.

As for being granted "official copyright", that should happen just by having created the work, provided it falls within the scope of any IP laws that apply (i.e. the photos of my holidays probably aren't copyrightable, but the works of my cousin who is a professional photographer are). Registering the work with the U.S. Copyright Office is not mandatory, except probably for ensuring you get statutory damages if someone infringes upon your rights, and you can apply for registering at any time (it should only take filling a form, and sending it along a copy of the work and the corresponding fee).

EDIT: About research, I don't have it within reach at the moment, but you might want to look into several reports on the topic: there's at least one comissioned by the Dutch Government, one by the Japanese Government, and I remember there being one by the MIT. If you haven't found them when I get back next week (I'm gonna go somewhere without access to the internet for a while), I'll see if I can do anything about it.

with the States having signed the Berne Convention, I'd assume things are similar enough over there.

As far as I know the only parts of the Berne Convention that the US does not really follow relates to moral rights, often called "droit moral" for being a particularly French idea. We adopted VARA the Visual Artists Rights Act, which has certain moral rights for specific types of works but the US has never fully adopted the concept.

Edit: Anyways, it seems like you have a good understanding of copyright law. Nice post.

So even if SOPA or PIPA pass, you could still voluntarily allow your works to be distributed over the internet (even legally, perhaps one of the Creative Commons licenses would be good for that, if only to explicitly avoid problems for you and for those who would distribute your works), and would not see a decrease in exposure.

SOPA and PIPA have been scraped, OPEN and ACTA (the second is international) have been proposed as a replacement, I'm not sure quite what the differences are.

The problem with SOPA is that they could close down a whole site even if it is legal Creative Commons stuff, they only need a suspicion that it violates copyrights, not facts. And Creative Commons hurts the entertainment industry, so they are a direct threat.

Yeah. Actually, if you think about it, the whole mainstream media is kinda sickening, there are a lot of examples for that. But I always considered the dutch news to be very neutral in comparison to, lets say, the American news. But now, after being one of the only countries not to sign ACTA, absolutely nothing has been said on the dutch news about it.... Its all very disturbing.

As for being granted "official copyright", that should happen just by having created the work, provided it falls within the scope of any IP laws that apply (i.e. the photos of my holidays probably aren't copyrightable, but the works of my cousin who is a professional photographer are). Registering the work with the U.S. Copyright Office is not mandatory, except probably for ensuring you get statutory damages if someone infringes upon your rights, and you can apply for registering at any time (it should only take filling a form, and sending it along a copy of the work and the corresponding fee).

As a brief aside, there's an old copyright trick for authors of written works: Mail yourself a hard copy of the finished product before you offer it to the public. That way, it gets dated with an official ink stamp from the post office. It's not a documented copyright of your work but it does function as evidence that you are its original author if, for instance, you post an excerpt online and then somebody swipes it and tries pushing it as his or her own.

_________________Incidentally, Ruben Rosas has very nice handwriting. The soul of a poet, one might say.

As a brief aside, there's an old copyright trick for authors of written works: Mail yourself a hard copy of the finished product before you offer it to the public. That way, it gets dated with an official ink stamp from the post office. It's not a documented copyright of your work but it does function as evidence that you are its original author if, for instance, you post an excerpt online and then somebody swipes it and tries pushing it as his or her own.

What you're describing is called the Poor Man's Copyright, and it doesn't work. At least not everywhere, and most likely not in the States.

It is true that in the US the poor man's copyright does not work as a substitute for registration. However, at least one US copyright attorney has expressed the opinion that it might help as a defensive move if the original author was ever accused of infringement. This makes some sense because the party claiming infringement has the burden of proof and something easy to fake is weaker evidence.

I was having this exact discussion with my friend yesterday. He was freaking out. I think the masses are way too apathetic to do anything drastic about it. So as a dystopia is slowly imposing itself,we keep seeing the presidents talking shit about dictators in foreign countries with no sense of irony whatsoever. It's like Carlin said,your rights aren't rights if they can be taken away,they're privileges.

Everyone is too busy sitting idly by and watching our rights get taken away, slowly but surely. And the fact that half of a nation is protesting the free market and the government being in bed with one another, while the other half of the nation are trying to decide which of two men they want to run for the Republican ticket, two men that have been a part of that racket for decades.

I can't foresee anything changing, or anyone seriously making a difference. People are being put out on the streets by companies that are fueling the politics of the country, so they have easier grey areas to get richer off of. Meanwhile the public isn't even getting the scoop on what is going on, because every second of every day, there is nothing but the constant distraction and fixation on consumerism, and the need to buy material shit. I don't know.. I just don't see stuff getting any better before it gets exponentially worse.

_________________

failsafeman wrote:

I'm so stoked someone finally called me a Nazi for my modding. That's an achievement on the Xbox version.

Pretty much. It pisses me off to no end. I don't think the flimsy American people have it in them to start a real revolution. It's kind of sad in a way. How much will be tolerated until we finally ALL agree it's too much?

The problem is that everyone has become a slave to the dollar bill and the technological world in general. I think starting a real revolution would mean giving up alot of stuff most Americans can not live without.

_________________

failsafeman wrote:

I'm so stoked someone finally called me a Nazi for my modding. That's an achievement on the Xbox version.

That's true. I think that even when the internet is fully censored,the only thing that will happen is more bitching. Friggin government,taking away my free speech! who the hell do they think they are! durrp de durrp

This whole anti-piracy crusade pisses me off because it's blatantly not about piracy. It's all about control. Most of these so-called "pirate" sites were NOT created for pirating, they were created for people to be able to share information freely. The amount of money that corporations lose to the pirates that do use these sites, while debatable, is either next to nothing or nothing, and they know that. Where they DO lose money, however, is through the internet as a whole, now that people don't need newspaper subscriptions to get news, now that independent artists can distribute their material by themselves cheaply, etc. The corporations want these sites shut down in an attempt to return our society to how it was pre-internet, when barely anything could be done without paying corporations for the service, and when the ones who controlled the flow of information were the ones who could afford it.

That's my take on it. As an aside, I always laugh when I see corporations claim millions or billions of dollars of losses due to piracy, yet somehow can still find the money to waste billions of dollars on bribing politicians to come up with stupid laws that almost always fail or are ineffective.

So you go to a show, and you can't mosh... who cares. Are you there to run into people or to listen to the music? If you want to run into people go to the mall and run through groups of mall goths or something for fun.

Could you please put that in a spoiler box. Really don't need a giant image protruding like that, even if you're very proud of yourself.

_________________

gomorro wrote:

Yesterday was the birthday of school pal and I met the chick of my sigh (I've talked about here before, the she-wolf I use to be inlove with)... Maaan she was using a mini-skirt too damn insane... Dude you could saw her entire soul every time she sit...